1. Field of the Invention
The present information relates to a mobile terminal and a photo search method thereof capable of retrieving and displaying a photo associated with a location on an augmented reality based camera view from a cloud and/or an SNS system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile terminal may be configured to perform various functions. The examples of the various functions may include a data and voice communication function, a photo or video capture function through a camera, a voice storage function, a music file reproduction function through a speaker system, an image or video display function, and the like. Some mobile terminals may include an additional function capable of implementing games, and some other mobile terminal may be implemented as a multimedia player. Moreover, recent mobile terminals receive broadcast or multicast signals to allow the user to view video or television programs.
Furthermore, the efforts for supporting and enhancing the functions of the mobile terminal have been carried out. The foregoing efforts may include adding and improving software or hardware as well as changing and improving structural elements constituting a mobile terminal. Of them, a touch function of the mobile terminal allows even users who are unskilled in a button/key input to conveniently perform the operation of a terminal using a touch screen. In recent years, it has settled down as a key function of the terminal along with a user UI in addition to a simple input. Accordingly, as the touch function is applied to a mobile terminal in more various forms, the development of a user interface (UI) suitable to that function is further required.
In recent years, with the development of display technologies, mobile terminals have been evolved to display 3-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic images allowing depth perception and stereovision exceeding the level of displaying two-dimensional images, and its related products have been released in various manners. Accordingly, the user can use more realistic user interfaces or contents through a 3-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic image.
Augmented reality (AR) is a graphic technique of combining and showing a virtual object with a real environment seen by the user's eyes, and fundamentally, a technology in which virtual information is put on based on a real world.
Accordingly, studies for putting the augmented reality into practice have been carried out in various fields since starting studies on the augmented reality technologies. In recent years, due to the development of smart phones, various applications using augmented reality have been developed, thereby allowing a handheld augmented reality system with the computing performance enhancement of mobile devices and the development of wireless network devices, such as mobile terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs), ultra mobile personal computers, and the like.
Examples of applications using augmented reality may include services providing building information or the like of a neighboring region (location) to the user using location information, and services such as image search and location information services providing search, mobile, shopping, advertisement, illustrated books, and the like using image recognition technologies, QR codes, and the like.
On the other hand, as cloud systems providing cloud computing environments through social network services, such as Twitter and Facebook, and virtual servers have been settled down, a lot of people store their own pictures in mobile terminals as well as show them to other people or manage them through the cloud system, blog and SNS. Accordingly, pictures captured with the passage of time (for example, from newborn to grown up) or various pictures for travels and events will be stored in a specific storage area of the cloud system, blog and SNS.
However, when the user visits the same place (e.g., sightseeing resort, event place, restaurant and others) after a predetermined period of time has passed, the user may carry his or her thought back to the past. If previously stored pictures can be retrieved and viewed in connection with the relevant place through a camera view of the mobile terminal, then it may be helpful to recall past events. However, such a function has not been provided yet by mobile terminals, and thus there is inconvenience in that the user must search pictures associated with the relevant place one by one among the previously stored pictures.